Triptet - Figure In The Carpet (Engine, 2012) ****

By Stef   

You put on this music, and you immediately understand that this will be special, with wind chimes, sax and guitar creating a strange, rhythmic pulse, repetitive and ambient, dark and ominous. The trio is Michael Monhart on saxophone and electronics, Tom Baker on fretless guitar, theremin and electronics, and Greg Campbell on drums, junk percussion, and French horn. As the piece evolves, it becomes increasingly difficult to recognize the instruments, as they get processed and repeated into a gloomy tapestry with the light wind chimes keeping up their spiel.

On the title track, the horror increases with a dark noise and slow percussive rumbling providing the background for equalised sax tones in clear pain. True, the electronics and latpop technology allow for lots of layers and studio possibilities, yet this is not the kind of nu jazz that we know from for instance Nils Petter Molvaer. The trio manages to create their own sound, their own vision of music, and this throughout the album. The result is a fascinating, sometimes hair-raising journey into madness and misery. Despite this, the music is very appealing, without needing to be in a state of utter depression to be able to identify with it, in a strange and undefinable way.

A strong achievement ... that could be better if even more radical in the future, without losing the vision. A challenge.

Listen and download from Bandcamp.

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Hunger Pangs - Meet Meat (ForTune, 2013) ****

By Stef   

Let's stay in Poland, with this great trio of Marek Kądziela on guitar, Tomasz Dąbrowski (Tom Trio) on trumpet, microKORG and balkan horn, and Kasper Tom Christiansen on drums.

The first line-up that I really got excited about with trumpet, guitar and drums was the Tiny Bell Trio, with Dave Douglas, Brad Shepik and Jim Black. And in fact, this music is very much in the same vein, raw and precise, incredibly rhythmic, full of changes within the compositions, and stylistically hesitating and shifting between modern jazz and its rougher variations in free jazz or jazz rock. Other influences or references might be "Der Rote Bereich" and "Hyperactive Kid".

Even in the slower parts, there is no polish (no pun intended), make-up or other cosmetics to be observed. Their reality is at the basis harsh, dark and straightforward, without the warmth of a bass or the soothing harmonic accompaniement of a piano, it is hard as rocks, hard as rocks tumbling down a rocky slope, hard as a stone floor to sleep on, yet out of this cold and restricted material universe this trio constructs something solid, structured, intelligent, and incredibly expressive, and sensitive too, and fun to listen to. Yes, maybe raw sensitivity and expressive intimacy describe this music well.

Judge for yourselves.

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Mikrokolektyw - Absent Minded (Delmark, 2013) ****

 

By Stef   

Just stepping from a plane coming from Warsaw, Poland, on a business trip, without having had the chance to see anything of the vibrant Polish jazz scene. Too bad! Luckily I saw this great Polish duo in concert some weeks ago in Antwerp. Artur Majewski plays trumpet and electronics, and Kuba Suchar drums and electronics. They are the first foreign artists to release albums on Delmark, the Chicago Jazz & Blues label.

I am not sure whether that's the reason, but both musicians have been touring with "Delmark musicians" such as Nicole Mitchell and Rob Mazurek, with whose Exploding Star Orchestra and São Paulo Underground they have been touring.

They appear on this blog with their debut album, "Revisit" (Delmark, 2010), and we find Majewski as a member of Foton Quartet with the exceptionally good "Zomo Hall".

What they perform here, is also good, again with musical references that go back to Don Cherry, with great joyful passages, with the modern-day influence of Mazurek's musical vision. This album is better than the previous one because of the quality of the compositions and improvisations, and what is even more important: the electronics have been mastered and subdued and have become functional in the overall sound, rather than just being a technical gimmick that boys like to show off with.

Some tracks appear to be purely acoustic, like the fantastic "Crazy Idea Of Jakub S." or "Little Warrior" with its crazy rhythm that reminds me of a Tom Waits track (but which one?) and with a trumpet part that reminds of Mazurek, other parts have more electronic influences, like the long and beautiful "Dream About The Mind Master", others are indeed almost Don Cherry tributs like "Sonar Toy", playful and joyous and somewhat African, and "Fossil Stairway" is both compelling and irritating.

It is indeed varied, and despite all the references mentioned above, the duo has its own voice, one that is more explicit than on the previous album, with all tracks of high quality and lots of ear candy ... both musicians play well and interact well. Despite the limited setting of trumpet and drums, Majewski and Suchar create a strong and exploratory album, that is equally welcoming and warm.

 

Can be purchased from Instantjazz.

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Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd - Indeterminate (Improvisations for Piano and Drums) (Nuvoid, 2013) ***½

By Paul Acquaro

Pianist Rodger Coleman and drummer Sam Byrd's collaboration is an energetic and succinct recording. Clocking in at a mere 35 minutes, there is not a scrap of waste on Indeterminate (Improvizations for Piano and Drums).

Captured live at the Zeitgeist Gallery in Nashville, near where pianist Coleman is based, Indeterminate is a vibrant document of the collaboration between Coleman and Byrd, who have worked together in other combinations in Boston and New York. This concert recording is captured nicely, you can hear the attack of the percussion balanced with with the fury of the piano, it's dense music, but not without space.

Coleman's playing has elements of Cecil Taylor's approach, like in the percussive tonal clusters and strong rhythmic drive, all connected by tight melodic runs. Byrd, who seems to have integrated a rubber duck into his kit and is not shy about squeezing it, gives Coleman more than enough support to build on. Or, maybe it's the other way around, where Coleman's intensity provides Byrd with space to explore and rhythmic ideas to push around.

Towards the end of the short recording, Coleman works over and over a small melodic invention, and suddenly, sprinkles in some musical quotes. It's a wonderment how a quick refrain from St. Thomas sticks out, like a shiny object in the musical maelstrom. Overall, the music is exciting and the relative brevity of the recording is a strong point too, not letting the music run out of steam. An enjoyable listen.

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Thurston Moore and Alex Ward - Live at Café OTO (Otoroku, 2013) ****½

By Martin Schray

Cafe Oto, which was founded by Hamish Dunbar and his girlfriend Keiko Yamamoto in 2008, has a reputation that precedes the venue like a thunderclap, which is quite unusual for a place mainly supporting experimental music and free improv. It is actually a miracle that they have succeeded in running such a place (and the label they founded) with hardly any funding, even if last year the Arts Council England supported them with £20,000 and Oto has also won the new £25,000 Genesis prize for its work as an arts mentor.

This has now changed since they want to renew their equipment ( they need a new grand piano, for example) and their recording stuff so that they can record all the shows properly. In order to collect some money artists like Evan Parker and Eddie Prévost (among others) donated items for an auction, John Tilbury played a free concert for them and both Fred Frith and Christian Marclay and Thurston Moore and Alex Ward released limited edition vinyl album to support them.

Alex Ward, who is on clarinet and amplifier here, has known Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore for almost 15 years when he worked with him and Derek Bailey. On March, 20th in 2012 they closed the first part of a set (which started with poetry reading by Moore and Tom Raworth) with a monstrously glaring performance. Moore started rather reluctantly with his guitar in his lap delivering feedback and sustained sounds (he used different metal equipment for it) for Ward’s meandering clarinet, before he stood up contributing the Sonic Youth noise sounds we all love so much. The result is a weird free jazz/klezmer/noise rock bastard, which is not far away from Mats Gustafsson’s and Thurston Moore’s “Play some fucking Stooges”, that brought the place to the boil.

“Live at Café Oto” is available as a single-sided limited edition of 100 LPs. It is incredibly expensive (£100) but actually it is worth every penny. Paul Lovens once told me that in such cases I should buy two albums just to sell the second one in three or four years because then the expenditures for both would have amortized - but I don’t want to speculate with music. There are some copies left. Don’t hesitate (if you can afford it).

Listen to an excerpt here:



You can buy it here.

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Adam Lane goes traditional

By Stef   

Last month I was wondering what Adam Lane, great bassist, composer and arranger was up to. It had been some three years since his phenomenal "Ashcan Rantings" had been released, and then all went quiet, apart from his work as a sideman in various line-ups. Luckily I am the kind of maniac who looks for new music by scanning all new iTunes, eMusic and other possible sources of music relentlessly, not relying on the promotional capabilities of either musicians and labels to get all relevant new releases.

Luckily I also found these two new Adam Lane releases on CIMP via iTunes. The two albums below do not feature on the label's website, and they are not announced as new recordings on Lane's website either, or rather to be found as if they were his first two recordings in his discography.

Both albums have the same line-up, with Lane on bass, Avram Fefer on tenor, Roy Campbell on trumpet, and Vijay Anderson on drums. And both albums are equally easy to recommend. Both also have the same concept: they bring old blues, American traditionals and gospel tunes by a typical free jazz unit, and the result is, as can be expected, moving, touching, heart-rending, bringing the old tunes to a new life, beautifully arranged and played. Apart from the songs' historical value and universal resonance, they way they are brought to you here makes you weep and laugh at times, the former with the great bass intro and then how the band kicks in on "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning", the latter with for instance "This Train" because of its compelling beauty, or with "Go Down Moses" for its moving intro and then berserk explosion ... to give just a few examples.

You can only wonder why they were not released as a double CD, since they form such a great unity.

This is music that is deeply rooted in the origins of jazz, sucking the emotional sap out of a century of musical adaptations and branches, and Adam Lane is possibly the best placed to bring those songs in a modern context, having demonstrated his talent for free-spirited sensitive arrangements in all his previous releases, now expanding it, broadening it, giving the material back its originally intended pain and awe and spirituality, all in a new form but while keeping the roots intact.

His deeply resonating and bluesy bass coaches this quartet into a warm and soulful restoration of tradition. Lane himself shines, and so does the rest of the band, and Roy Campbell's playing on most tunes can be described as absolutely stellar, not only because of his technique, but because of the feeling he gets across in his equally bluesy soloing, while Fefer does some equally hair-raising soloing of the more extravert kind, greatly supported by Anderson.

Absolutely great stuff!


Adam Lane Quartet - Blue Spirit Band (CIMP, 2013) ****

"Blue Spirit Band" was recorded in 2007, and brings such well-know songs as Looky Looky Yonder, Follow the Drinking Gourd, House Of The Rising Sun, Peace Like a River, Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning, Old Time Religion, and Myrtle Avenue Blues. 

Listen and buy from iTunes.


Adam Lane Quartet - Oh Freedom (CIMP, 2013) ****

"Of Freedom" was recorded in June 2009 and brings the following songs : This Train, Hold On, C-Line Woman, Go Down Moses, Everybody Loves Saturday Night, Wayfaring Stranger, Cotton Eyed Joe, and Oh Freedom.

Listen and buy from iTunes.



We can only look forward to Adam Lane's upcoming trio album on No Business, with Darius Jones and Vijay Anderson.

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Trumpet and Piano

By Stef   

We're being spoiled again, us lovers of trumpet and piano duets. Earlier this year Brian Groder and Tonino Miano released "Fluidensity", last year Satoko Fujii and Natsuki Tamura released "Muku", and now we get even more. Most of these albums share the same common features of chamber jazz, offering a kind of eclectic mix of classical music with jazz, a light romantic sensitivity, often with reduced nervous tension, stripping jazz of its hyperkinetic dynamics, shifting the mood into a more cerebral, contemplative one, which requires serious listening, because notes and interactions are precious, not sprayed around in abundance, no, quite to the contrary, they are rather selected with precision and care, and worked into clear tones and stretched notes, shimmering over sparse piano chords. 

So, I know that musicians absolutely hate to be compared with other musicians, and definitely so if the approach sounds similar, yet is of course totally different. I apologise for that. 



Thomas Heberer & Achim Kaufmann - Knoten (Red Toucan, 2013) ****½ 

Thomas Heberer on trumpet and quartertone trumpet, and Achim Kaufmann on piano, go back a long way. They studied together, played lots of music together, then moved in different geographical directions, now meeting again for a fantastic album. Most tracks start with some idea of what is going to happen, yet then both musicians turn the material into fabulous excursions of calm nervousness, or restrained tension, really going beyond the boundaries of genre or style. Is this jazz? Is this modern classical music? You can wonder.

What you know is that each piece has its own precise musical character, sometimes moody, sometimes joyful, often both at once, sometimes contemplative and sometimes jubilating. What you don't get is repetition, patterns or other solid foundations to stand on, what you get is permanent surprise about what's going to happen, wondering which ways the notes will go, and strangely enough both musicians know, because they move together as one, away from your expectations into new realms of wonder. You can wonder how the notation took place. Yet they explore, they take a journey in their own music, building on the ideas, and expanding them, keeping the original character all the time.

The result is one of refreshing drama, clever sensitivity, precision in rawness, disciplined invention, and this with a broad and open-minded vision on music.

The most amazing thing about the album are the incredible varietiy of ideas, the shifts and changes, and the overall coherence. Of all the albums reviewed in this post, it is without a doubt also the most adventurous, going at times sonically beyond the natural voicing of each instrument, yet without overdoing it.

For sure one of the most interesting albums of the year.


Mirio Cosottini & Tonino Miano - The Inner Life Of Residue (Impressus, 2013) ****

We've reviewed Italian trumpeter Mirio Cosottini before, with EA Silence, on "Flatime" and "Cono Di Ombra E Luce", and with pianist Tonino Miano (again!) on the equally excellent "Cardinal", the latter two albums getting both a five-star rating. Cosottini and Miano had one duo album before, "The Curvature Of Pace", which was quite avant-garde stylistically.

Not so with this one. The two superb musicians give us references to the cool jazz of the 50s, both sonically and harmonically, yet they transform the grammar into today's mode of speech, while adding the eclectism of modern classical music and elements of free improvisation. The approach is calm, minimal, with incredible attention for tone and pace.

As they write in the liner notes "From strictly notated ideas, to graphic scores, verbal suggestions to one another, but always with only one condition in mind : to avoid binding the sound with a specific stylistic gel. That is why, in our opinion, the music is both "out" and "in", "lyric" and "harsh", "smooth" and "coarse", "linear" and "non-linear", it is the act of orbiting the object of our investigation and gaining new perspectives at each passing". Lots of contradictions? The absolute essence for great music.

Some pieces are so beautiful that it hurts.


Ralph Alessi & Fred Hersch - Only Many (Camjazz, 2013) ****

Two other absolute masters of progressive jazz are Ralph Alessi on trumpet and Fred Hersch on piano. After having played together for many years, they release their first duo album, bringing a set of fourteen tracks, of which two covers, Thelonius Monk’s "San Francisco Holiday" and Paul Motian’s "Blue Midnight".

Alessi and Hersch have a kind of natural musical fit, both being extremely gifted on their instruments and with an exceptional ear for interplay, with lots of reverence for jazz tradition while pushing this heritage into today's context without pushing it too far. Their music remains accessible to wide audiences - although that's also relative. It would be too easy to categorise the music on the album as romantic ballads - which they are essence - but both musicians are way too clever not to make this interchange captivating and interesting, developing the themes and structures into sensitive improvisations, full of melancholy beauty, and sometimes even adding some fun into the process, like on "Some Digging In The Ground", or on the playful Monk composition.

Not specifically of high natural interest to the readers of this blog, but lovers of great musicianship 'tout court' will love this.


Tom Arthurs & Richard Fairhurst - Postcards from Pushkin (Babel, 2012) ****

In continuation of "Mesmer", their first collaboration, Tom Arthurs on flugelhorn and Richard Fairhust on piano, bring their sonic aquarels, now inspired by the literature of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. The music has this tranquil approach that mixes jazz with classical music, even ridiculing genre definitions completely. The music is fragile, romantic in its sensitivity but modern in its lack of explicit themes and structures, like floating abstractions, and the quality of the playing is excellent.

Can be listened to and downloaded from Bandcamp.


Kirk Knuffke & Jesse Stacken - Orange Was The Color (Steeplechase, 2011)***½  

One of the downsides of this blog is that we get far more CDs than we can ever review, even with a great team of passionate contributors. This one fell through the cracks of our review system two years ago. And not surprisingly in a way, considering the more mainstream approach of both artists. After having covered the music of Ellington and Monk on "Mockingbird", and other jazz luminaries on "Like A Tree" (with Kenny Wollesen on drums), Kirk Knuffke on cornet and Jesse Stacken take on the music of Charles Mingus, in a kind of setting that sounds unnatural for the bassist's music, yet it does work somehow, offering an excellent performance and an interestingly fragile rendition of Mingus' physical music, elucidating elements that you would not have expected in the originals.


Enjoy!


Some of those albums can be purchased from Instantjazz.

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Tomasz Stanko’s New York Quartet - Wislawa (ECM, 2013) ****½

By Troy Dostert

For fans of trumpeter Tomasz Stanko, this double-CD release is a welcome treat.  And for those who haven’t yet sampled the riches of this veteran of European creative jazz of the 1970s, this recording would be a great place to begin.  While Stanko has mellowed just a bit with age (although he still has some fire to his playing when the occasion demands it—see below), he remains a searching, dynamic player who is always guaranteed to produce memorable music.

Part of the key to the success of this recording is the new group Stanko has assembled, consisting of pianist David Virelles, bassist Thomas Morgan, and last but not least drummer Gerald Cleaver, who’s seemingly been playing with everyone these days, as his long list of recordings seems to grow by the week.  Stanko has always chosen well in selecting his musical partners, and these guys continue that legacy, as they’re able to anchor the music in subtle and gentle ways, something particularly essential for the gorgeous ballads that are now Stanko’s stock-in-trade.  The album’s title track, “Wislawa,” for example, is built around a breathtaking but very deliberately-paced tune.  Only a group committed to putting the beauty of the music before their own egos could offer the support needed to make this music really sing, and Virelles, Morgan and Cleaver are certainly capable of it.  But what separates this record from some of Stanko’s more recent work is that these players are also willing to stir things up a bit—by injecting some energy and drive to a number of the tracks.  And in the process, they spur Stanko to some of his punchiest playing in recent years.

Take, for instance, the second track of the album, “Assassins,” which begins with a relatively straightforward post-bop head, only to quickly morph into a groove-driven off-meter vamp that allows Stanko to take his horn into the upper register for some truly invigorating playing, while the rest of the group keeps things going with a feisty rhythmic charge.  Or for another example, “Faces,” near the end of the record, provides another glimpse of the quartet working together on another upbeat number, which again coaxes more spirited playing from Stanko and the others as well.  Along the way, Virelles, Morgan and Cleaver strike the perfect balance between order and freedom, as they support Stanko unfailingly, but not in a confining way.  Especially on the more up-tempo tracks, there’s more than enough openness to allow Stanko’s bandmates to explore their own ideas independently, as they do brilliantly on “Shaggy Vandal,” where after several minutes of fantastic group interplay during the middle of the track while Stanko takes a breather, the trumpeter just can’t help himself, and eagerly jumps in with some passionate contributions of his own before it’s too late.  Special credit should go to Gerald Cleaver as the rhythmic center of this group, as his diversity as a percussionist is really showcased to fine effect here.  When providing soft brushwork on some of the ballad tracks, Cleaver is as understated and careful as one could hope for; but when it’s time to let loose, he brings a muscular presence that allows the more adventurous tracks to take flight.  Hearing such a forceful and unpredictable drummer work with Stanko is one of the special delights of this record.

As a document marking the continuing legacy of one of the legends of improvised music--still going strong in his eighth decade!--this is a very fine release.  And with Stanko’s new colleagues continuing to inspire his creativity, here’s to hoping that there will be many more to come.

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Tim Daisy and Jason Stein - Bascule (Peira, 2013) ****

By Paul Acquaro

I think that the opening track 'Calumet' is the sound of the bascule opening. The  introduction to Tim Daisy and Jason Stein's duo recording begins with the lowercase sounds of air but the mood is soon punctuated by random musical chatter and finally it all gives way to a steady and strong rhythmic bass clarinet and drums stream of consciousness -- which is all to say, it's pretty damn good. Stein's bass clarinet moves effortlessly through the octaves and Daisy's percussion, whether providing atmosphere or rhythmic support, feels flawless.

The intimacy of their conversation also takes on an air of urgency in the follow up 'Center Pier'. Then, the title track begins with Stein's trills and Daisy's rumbling toms. The track becomes almost stressful at times, as the knotty and complex lines of The evolving melody jumps through hoops of its own making.

Stein and Daisy are stalwarts of the Chicago free jazz scene and this duo recording showcases thier talents with delightful clarity. As I write 'highly recommended', the clarinet is reaching an apex of tormented beauty. Good stuff indeed.

Listen, buy, have fun at the label's website.

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Hungry Cowboy - Dance (Prom Night, 2013) ****

By Paul Acquaro

According to the label Prom Night's web site, "hungry cowboy performs Jacob Wick's graphic compositions loosely based on the emotional landscape of Cormac McCarthy's Southwest novels."

I was introduced to author Cormac McCarthy in an undergrad American Literature class as the new - or most recent - Faulkner, or something like that. From the darkness of No Country for Old Men, to the post apocalyptic bleakness of The Road, to the flowing All The Pretty Horses, Brooklyn based 'hungry cowboy' has chosen a deep well to draw inspiration from, and they certainly seem up to the task. Comprised of Jacob Wick on trumpet, Briggan Krauss on saxophone, Jonathan Goldberger on guitar and Mike Pride on drums, the group creates it own images of dusty Western plains, dry cracked river beds, and menacing skies.

The opening track 'Gleam' begins with an abstract call and response between the quartet, but the sparse and spacious score begins to fill in with a hopeful tune, and ends with a foreshadowing of the gathering storm. It arrives in 'Dance,' a heavy guitar driven track that finds Goldberger and Pride locked into a deadly march across the parched landscape. The closing track, 'Clear', features the austere legato of the horns locked in repetition over clattering percussion. The guitar scratches and buzzes around with bad intent as the tension builds into a wrenching climax and unresolved, but again hopeful, ending.

I listened to Dance for a long time before I was aware of the McCarthy connection but find my imagination piqued by it. Regardless, this is a solid and inventive album that is a visually suggestive as it is musically compelling.

Listen/Buy: http://music.promnightrecords.com/album/dance

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